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Ryder Cup Standings

The Ryder Cup is the highest profile event in golf, out ranking all golfing major tournaments. The Ryder Cup standings are an important part of that title, because only the best of the best play during the Ryder Cup Golf tournament. For the 2008 Ryder Cup, there has been a change in the way the US Ryder Cup standings are looked upon. The new US Ryder Cup qualifying system change was due to the six out of seven Ryder Cup losses for the US Ryder Cup team.

There are two main changes to how the US Ryder Cup standings are determined. Qualifying Ryder Cup points become tied to the PGA money list, and are weighted towards the year of competition rather than the two years preceding it, like it was for the 2006 Ryder Cup standings. The second change to the way the Ryder Cup standings are concluded is that there will only be eight automatic qualifying spots (as opposed to ten) and the US Ryder Cup team captain will pick the remaining four spots.

The US Ryder Cup standings break down to match the PGA money list in this manner: For every $1000 earned in any of the four majors (Masters, US Open, British Open, or PGA Championships) during 2007, one point will be awarded. For every $1000 earned in of the four majors (Masters, US Open, British Open, or PGA Championships) during 2008, two points will be awarded. For every $1000 earned in any of the non-major tournaments during 2008, one point will be awarded, and for every $1000 earned in any event which is played opposite of one of the four majors during 2008, half a point will be awarded. For the of 2006 events that have already taken place, those players that have earned points and those that have finished in the top ten will receive one quarter of a point for every $1000 earned.

The European Ryder Cup standings qualification stays the same. Five players qualify through the Ryder Cup World Points list, based on World Ranking points accumulated from All World Rank tournaments over a 12 month period. Five other players earn their Ryder Cup standing through the Ryder Cup European Points List based upon money won in the European Tour Order of Merit tournaments. One point equals one Euro. The last two players earn their Ryder Cup standing by being chosen by that year’s Ryder Cup captain.